Nobody Does it Better

In the world of historical fiction, nobody does it better than Geraldine Brooks. In saying that, I’m reminded of how much I loved the novels of Rose Tremain and Pat Barker. But in my mind, Brooks’ new novel People of the Book is the quintessential historical novel because it combines interesting and important historical facts across several centuries and countries with wonderful fictional characters, a compelling story, passion, and great writing.

Hanna Heath, an Australian book conservator is offered the opportunity of a lifetime: conserving a beautifully illuminated 15th century haggadah that turns up in a library in Sarajevo in 1996, at a time when Bosnia is struggling to rebuild itself after the devastating civil war. I loved learning about the process of conserving a book like this, and how the story of the book’s creation and survival is revealed through tiny clues that Hanna finds tucked into its pages: a wine stain, sea salt, an insect wing. We travel in time from the Spanish Inquisition, through World War II and finally to the Bosnian war. And we meet courageous, as well as ordinary and despicable people. As the story of the book is revealed, so too is Hanna’s story. What she learns about her extraordinary but unloving mother, the father she has never known, the mentor she holds in such high esteem, and the man she has fallen in love with rocks her world. And all of it reveals, ultimately, who she is.

The story of the book and the survival of the haggadah also testify to the ability of people from different religious backgrounds to transcend their differences because of their common humanity. But lest the novel become weighted down with these grand themes, Brooks gives Hanna a distinctive fresh voice and a feisty approach to the hurdles she faces, She is a memorable character in a memorable book, written by a truly gifted author.